I replied to “Help find this regency”. One comment Suzanna made was that she would have liked to see the villainess, in this case the maid, get her just reward and not being paid off. I realize that it would have caused a scandal and I guess the hero wanted to shield the heroine. However, I agree, there were likely numerous ways to get ‘pay back’. Also, the heroine’s relatives were a rather nasty lot and I would have liked to see just a bit of needling (I know the heroine is a lady and ladies are above needling). I read another book which irked me quite a bit; “The Duke’s double” by Anita Mills.

***Spoiler***

After divorcing his wife for adultery, solely based on what his mother and her maid said, a duke realizes that a) he still love his former wife and b) seeing her oldest son, he realizes that it is his son and that it was unlikely that his wife had carried on with his best friend while expecting his child. His mother continues to try to keep them apart and in the end he tells her that she can keep her opinion to herself and that’s pretty much all he says or does.
Personally, I believe anyone else in this situation and during that time period would have at least exiled the mother to a remote place (didn’t all dukes have such remote barren estate?). What are your thoughts.

Oh yes. I want to see that the villain(ess) pays for his/her misdeeds. I'm not bloodthirsty, well, not usually, but there is so much inequity in our real world that I need some sort of catharsis. Seeing a villain(ess) beeing punished for what (s)he did makes me always feel a little better. The sort of pettiness and malice that you used as exemple is something that I want to see crushed in a book. No way I would ever forgive someone whose lies led to such consequences

I don't hate books very often, partly because I vet them pretty carefully before I read them and partly because it requires something pretty egregious for me to have such a strong negative feeling about a book. Injustice, though, virtually guarantees wallbanger status.

If a plot is that the identity of the villain is never discovered or the protagonists aren't in a position to punish the villain, I wouldn't mind. I'd find it frustrating, but it wouldn't pull me out of the book breathing fire. What I mainly want from the author is acknowledgment that what the villain did was villainous, and that someone would punish them if it were possible. Woe to the author who lets me read all the way to the end and find out the villain gets off with hugs and kisses and understanding all around. Just don't do it.

I replied to “Help find this regency”. One comment Suzanna made was that she would have liked to see the villainess, in this case the maid, get her just reward and not being paid off. I realize that it would have caused a scandal and I guess the hero wanted to shield the heroine. However, I agree, there were likely numerous ways to get ‘pay back’. Also, the heroine’s relatives were a rather nasty lot and I would have liked to see just a bit of needling (I know the heroine is a lady and ladies are above needling). I read another book which irked me quite a bit; “The Duke’s double” by Anita Mills.

***Spoiler***

After divorcing his wife for adultery, solely based on what his mother and her maid said, a duke realizes that a) he still love his former wife and b) seeing her oldest son, he realizes that it is his son and that it was unlikely that his wife had carried on with his best friend while expecting his child. His mother continues to try to keep them apart and in the end he tells her that she can keep her opinion to herself and that’s pretty much all he says or does.
Personally, I believe anyone else in this situation and during that time period would have at least exiled the mother to a remote place (didn’t all dukes have such remote barren estate?). What are your thoughts.

this is one of the many reasons why i loathed the book. the mother had wreaked too much havoc for her not to pay. the ending just wasn't satisfying to me on any level._________________never allow someone else to define you!